Cemetery Archives - Lost In Michigan

Oak Hill Cemetery Chapel

Posted on November 28, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery .

The Oak Hill Cemetery sits east of downtown Pontiac. It is where the Buckland Memorial Chapel stands. The old English style stone chapel was built in 1898. The cemetery contains the remains of six veterans of the Revolutionary War and well over 27 veterans of the Civil War, including General Israel B. Richardson, Michigan governor Moses Wisner, and General Joseph T. Copeland

Michigan has some of the most beautiful little chapels in cemeteries. Whenever I see them I always think they would make a beautiful wedding chapel, but I am thinking most brides do not want to get married in a cemetery.

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The Historic White Lake Cemetery

Posted on November 4, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in autumn, Cemetery .

I drove past the historic White Lake Cemetery and had to stop and get a pic of the trees showing off their autumn color under the blue sky. A historical marker stands in the old cemetery and gives a little history

This cemetery was established by Robert Garner when his nine-month-old child, Mary, died in 1837. White Lake Road, which runs past it, was once an Indian trail. Garner, a pioneer of White Lake Township, was involved in the establishment of the First Presbyterian Church of White Lake and was the superintendent of a pioneer sabbath school in White Lake. Buried in the cemetery are many of the pioneer families of the township, including the Garners, Seeleys and Voorheises. Also buried here are twenty-eight Civil War veterans and just over forty veterans of succeeding wars. In 1856 the cemetery was formally deeded to the Board of Health of White Lake Township.

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The Legend of Lakeville Cemetery

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, Haunted Places .

The community of Lakeville is located between Oxford and Romeo. It is there that you will find one of the oldest cemeteries in the state that was started in 1846. One of the earliest burials was Private Derrick Hulick, a veteran of the American Revolution who enlisted in the New Jersey militia in June 1776.

At the side of the cemetery is a mausoleum dug into the hillside. It is for James and Elizabeth Dunn, who ran a local sawmill in the early 1890s. James passed in 1930, Elizabeth in 1952. There are several urban legends and myths surrounding the old tomb. On suggests that a young teen couple was dared to spend the night in the tomb and died overnight. Another is that a teen girl was locked inside and she died while clawing at the door trying to escape. And another is that an axe murderer hid bodies in the tomb.

While there is no proof that any of this is true the urban legends continues to live on. I did not see any strange events or spirits when I visited. I thought it was a beautiful historic cemetery with an old and interesting stone mausoleum in the hillside.

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St Peter The Fisherman Cemetery

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, upper peninsula .

south of the historic Fayette townsite is an old cemetery on the shoreline of Lake Michigan. A sign next to the road denotes it is St Peter The Fisherman Cemetery. It was the Catholic cemetery for Fayette and a protestant cemetery was north of town. A short trail from the road leads to the cemetery hidden in the trees.

It is a beautiful little cemetery with old headstones and newer wooden crosses. One of the earliest burials was in 1877. The one thing that stood out to me was the metal fencing surround a couple of burial plots. It was strange how it was all mangled and twisted as if some supernatural force hit it. I am thinking a tree fell on it or maybe ice from a storm but for whatever reason it looked odd. If you like old cemeteries and you are visiting Fayette be sure to check out the old cemetery. It is near the Port Bar & Family Restaurant.

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The Spirits of Quaker Cemetery

Posted on October 12, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, Haunted Places .

concealed in the woods at the end of an unmarked two-track trail is the old Quaker Cemetery. It is in a desolate section a few miles south of Nashville. No, not that Nashville, known for country music, but Nashville Michigan.

Eli Lapham, a Quaker minister, settled the area in 1837. After a sawmill was constructed the area grew in population with people of the Quaker faith. over time the trees were cut down. The swampy area was not good for farming so the Quakers had left leaving behind a small cemetery on a hill.

Sadly many of the headstones are broken. I am not sure if it is due to the ravages of time or vandals, probably a little bit of both. Some say the surrounding woods are haunted by the spirits whose graves have been forgotten. It has been said that you can see spirits among the trees watching visitors. I did not see anyone or anything mysterious. It was sad to see the condition that some of the headstones are in. The old cemetery does seem to have been remembered by the local historical society. A new historical marker stands at the site and the grass was mowed. Maybe the spirits are a little more content and do not bother visitors as long as they behave themselves.

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Copper Harbor Cemetery

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, upper peninsula .

When I was up in Copper Harbor last fall I took a trip through the old cemetery. I noticed it has several graves with fences around them. I was curious and did a little research on the internets. Although decorative the fencing served to keep animals off loved ones grave sites. At least that is what I found on the internet. I am thinking that makes sense since I see fencing more frequently in the northern Michigan cemeteries where there would be more animals.

If you like old grave sites check out the cemetery off US-41 just before you get into Copper Harbor.

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Veteran’s Home Cemetery

Posted on May 30, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery .

The Michigan Veterans’ Facility (formerly the Michigan Soldiers’ Home) was authorized by Act 152 of the Public Acts of 1885, which provided for the establishment of a home for disabled Michigan veterans. This act resulted from the efforts of Civil War veterans who were members of the Grand Army of the Republic. The buildings served Civil War veterans until 1938, when the last resident veteran of that conflict died.

In April 1886 the board of managers of the Michigan Veterans’ Facility set aside five acres for a cemetery. The Grand Rapids posts of the Grand Army of the Republic dedicated the cemetery on Memorial Day, May 31, 1886. The original cemetery was designed in the form of a Maltese cross with 262 grave sites in each of its four sections. In 1894 a granite statue of a Civil War soldier was placed in the center of the cross. By the time of its centennial in 1986, the cemetery had recorded over 4,000 burials of veterans and their dependents.

Only residents of the Veteran’s Home can be buried at the cemetery. It is one of five VA cemeteries in Michigan.

Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta (Battle Creek)

Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly

Lakeside Cemetery Soldiers’ Lot in Port Huron

Fort Mackinac Post Cemetery on Mackinac Island

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Detroit’s Fireman’s Fund Memorial

Posted on May 29, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery, Fire Houses .

When I am out and about roaming around Michigan and I see a large old cemetery sometimes I take a trip through it because they usually have a large veterans section. I like to stop and get pics to post on Memorial Day to honor the fallen heroes. In Elmwood Cemetery I came across the Fireman’s Memorial.

In 1855 the Detroit City Council created 8 new fire companies to protect the citizens and property in the city. To help members of the new department the Detroit Firemen’s Fund was organized March 16, 1866. The Fund assisted the widows and orphans, disabled firefighters and to purchase and maintain burial plots. Dues were $4 per year. Members off duty
by reason of sickness or injury received $5 to $10 each week. The association also defrayed the funeral expenses of deceased firemen, not to exceed $100. Shortly after incorporation, the Fund purchased its first burial plots in Elmwood Cemetery. Just 4 months after the Fund was organized, Pipeman John Miller E-3 was killed at a fire, leaving behind a wife and child. The Fund purchased large sections of burial plots in both Mt. Elliott (Catholic) and Elmwood (non-sectarian) Cemeteries in Detroit. The first Firemen’s Monument was erected in Elmwood Cemetery and dedicated July 4, 1876.

It takes a special kind of person to run into a burning building. Thank you to all the firefighters out there who answer the call for help.

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Flags In The Cemetery

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery .

I visit many old cemeteries in my travels around Michigan learning about the state’s past. I usually see little American flags flying at some of the markers reminding me of the people who risked their lives defending our freedoms. The cemetery behind the church in Indianville near Burt Lake has several simple wooden crosses and the flags are reminders that Veterans can come from anywhere. From big cities to small remote villages in northern Michigan.

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The Fallen Soldiers of Mackinac Island

Posted on May 19, 2022 by Mike Sonnenberg Posted in Cemetery .

The Post Cemetery is one of only four National Cemeteries with the honor of permanently flying the American flag at half mast. The cemetery is the final resting place for Fort Mackinac soldiers, their families, and local officials. The small cemetery on Mackinac Island is surrounded by a white picket fence with a wooden archway, and had a canon from Fort Sumter South Carolina on display. Of the approximately 108 burials in Fort Mackinac Post Cemetery, 69 are unknown,. The origin of the cemetery is lost to poor record keeping in the early 1800’s but local lore from the nineteenth century suggests that both American and British War of 1812 soldiers are buried here. Many early burials were marked with simple wooden crosses that have long since decayed and disappeared. As a result many of the burials are unknown.

Among the burials is German-born Civil war veteran Ignatius Goldhofer who came to Fort Mackinac in 1896 with a variety of ailments and old wounds. When he died three years later his wife and four children buried him in the Post Cemetery.

Civilian Interments include Edward Biddle who served the community as sheriff, village president and surveyor in the mid nineteenth century. In the 1880’s Lieutenant Calvin Cowles and his wife Mary buried their infant children Josiah and Isabel next to each other in the shaded northeast corner of the cemetery.

P.S. The others Cemeteries that fly the flag at half mast are: the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl) in Honolulu, Hawaii, Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, and National Cemetery at Gettysburg in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

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